Does Exercise Order Matter?

Wait - Does Exercise Order Actually Matter? We Investigate

Exercise order is one of the most critical, but underappreciated, variables of program design.

Where you place an exercise in your workout will affect:

How much weight you can lift.

How many reps you can complete.

How much control you have over technique.

So, if you are guilty of moving from one exercise to another in a random order, you are seriously compromising your results. Research and our own experience working with clients show that you will always perform better on an exercise if you place it at the start of your workout compared to the end.

At the start of a workout, your strength, energy, and focus should be at peak levels. But, training is mentally and physically draining, and your performance capacity will gradually decline as you progress through your workout. If it didn't, you would be able to train for hours at a time.

The problem is, you cannot perform every exercise first - so what should you prioritize?

A golden rule of program design is to place the most complex and demanding exercises at the start of your workout when you will have more energy and perform better. Several factors combine to determine how complex an exercise is, including how much weight you lift, stability, and the number of joints and muscle groups involved.

Take the example of a barbell back squat and seated leg extension.

The squat involves lifting your full bodyweight plus a loaded barbell, coordinating the movement of multiple joints, and targets muscles across your entire body. In contrast, the leg extension is relatively simple. You perform it sitting down, only have to lift the weight of your legs plus a portion of the weight stack and primarily target your quadriceps (thigh) muscles.

Overall, the squat is more technically demanding, works the most muscle mass and has the highest potential for injury if you let technique slip. As a result, you should always perform complex exercises like the squat, bench press and deadlift first, and leave more simple exercises, such as leg extensions, calf raises and biceps curls until the end of your workout.

The only time we bend this rule is if we want to target a specific body part. In this case, sometimes the simple exercises are best.

A special tactic we use to optimize performance in these exercises without affecting the bigger lifts is to ask our clients to start performing them before their cardio workouts or on rest days.

Exercise pairings are another key programming consideration that can help you get the most out of your time in the gym.

You can perform exercises one at a time (straight sets) or paired together (paired sets). If you only have limited time to train, then you should base your program on paired sets rather than straight sets.

With paired sets, one muscle group is working, while the other is resting, which reduces the amount of rest time you need between exercises. In comparison, straight sets are not as time efficient and require longer rest periods to maintain performance levels across multiple sets.

One issue to be aware of when pairing exercises together are target muscle group overlap.

We avoid pairing exercises together that target the same muscle group. For example, pairing two back exercises together. Although it may feel like your muscles are working harder, the fatigue generated from performing the first exercise will carryover and interfere with your performance on the second exercise.

This will make it harder to maintain proper technique, you will be forced to use lighter weights and will complete fewer reps. A better approach would be to separate the two back exercises and either pair them with a non-competing exercise or perform them one at a time as straight sets. A simple way to avoid this and one of the most popular exercise pairing methods is to match opposing muscle groups together, e.g. chest/back, quadriceps/hamstrings and biceps/triceps.

It is also important to consider that sometimes it is not possible or practical to pair exercises together, especially if you train in a busy commercial gym where exercise equipment is at a premium during peak times. This is when following a straight sets format may be your best or only option.